WHEN Norman Stanier's eco-friendly house at Putley featured on the television's Discovery television channel on Wednesday, he was suspended on a rope outside the medieval windows of Warwick Castle.

Mr Stanier, who runs a specialist access firm, and has tackled the castle window cleaning job twice before, relied on a neighbour to video the show, which went out at 2.50pm.

He said: "Our house is actually very low-tech. We project managed it ourselves and won an award from the Daily Telegraph for the best low energy house."

In 1997, the Stanier's home was also named the UK's best self-built home of the year, by a national building magazine.

It was these successes that attracted the attention of the television people and led to the Discovery camera crew visiting three of four months ago.

The £120,000 four-bedroomed home, called Dragon House, is special in several ways.

Firstly, it employs what Mr Stanier calls his "private sewerage system", which means that waste drains into two reed-lined lakes, complete with fish, ducks, geese, moorhens and dragonflies.

With a slate floor and stone walls, made from recycled materials, the house acts as a natural storage heater.

In winter, the Stanier family - consisting of Mrs Ann Stanier and two teenage sons, Patrick aged 17, and Hugh aged 13 - rely on a wood-burning stove fed with fuel from their orchard. For very cold days, there is a Rayburn stove linked to "very small radiators".

Mr Stanier said: "We love it, it is just so comfortable; light, airy and warm."

Even the paints on the walls are made from natural oils.

In his business, Mr Stanier's commitment to natural products is carried on.

The windows of Warwick Castle are shining this week, thanks to natural soaps of course.